Nintendo's Wii Music Waits for Fans
Dec 15, 2008
After years of explosive growth, Nintendo Co. is under pressure to keep up its momentum. That puts the company's creative chief, Shigeru Miyamoto, in the hot seat again.
Tag: Nintendo
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At Issue } essential reading
Make Your Product Work for Your Brand
May 5, 2010
Digital technologies have fundamentally changed the way consumers interact with each other and, by the way, with brands. The role of engaging brand stories has not gone away. However, to truly establish loyalty and advocacy -- the holy grail of marketing in the digital age -- our marketing and brand strategies need to go beyond telling great stories. We have to make marketing focus on how products or services are actually used, not on how we hope they are used. We have to make them more useful by wrapping them in applications that increase their usefulness to the consumer.
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Netflix Prepares For International Expansion
Apr 28, 2010
Netflix appears to be ready to take its video rental service to international markets, a recent job posting suggests. The company has an opening for a director of product management to “drive the Netflix team to clearly understand what work must be done, and in what order, to achieve international scale most quickly.” Stateside, Netflix is doing quite well. Its video-streaming service is now in high demand on Nintendo Wiis and iPads and is coming soon to iPhones and iPod touches.
Nintendo Says 3DS Biggest Handheld Product Since 2004
Apr 13, 2010
Nintendo Co., projecting the first drop in annual sales of its DS handheld player, said the forthcoming 3-D model will be the company’s biggest portable product introduction since 2004. “We have ideas of what we want to bring to the consumer that we can’t do with the current” DS model, Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime said in an interview yesterday. “The Nintendo 3DS for us is our next handheld platform.”
Sony's PlayStation Move Ad Snarks on Microsoft's Project Natal, Ignores Nintendo Wii
Mar 19, 2010
All three current-gen videogame console makers have staked their futures on motion sensing. Nintendo famously did it first with the Wii, a ballsy, forward-looking move that many believed would lead to the downfall of the venerable company--but instead it won them this generation, racking up incredible sales and proving the naysayers totally and embarrassingly wrong.
Why the Apple Tablet Is a Games Changer
Jan 26, 2010
After throwing off the mediocre display of 3-D technologies and e-books at CES, the industry is eagerly awaiting the main event on Wednesday. There truly is no spectacle that compares to the launch of a new Apple product. The formula is well-established. Everyone is hungry for the next iPhone moment and Apple's bid to squash the Kindle and reinvent the publishing business with the iPad or the iSlate tablet computer. But that is a mere sideshow. The real road kill this time will not be the Kindle. It will be handheld video gaming devices like Sony's PSP and the Nintendo DS, as Apple establishes a lock on the economics of casual gaming with its newest device.
A Product is NOT a Brand
Jan 20, 2010
Having a great product is no longer a guarantee of success. A Bain & Co. survey notes that 80 percent of CEOs believe that their product is differentiated, but only 8 percent of consumers agree. To truly stand out in the market, a product must embody the characteristics of its brand. But, with all the hoopla around branding, it’s no wonder that companies are continually lured into believing that their brand is their product and their product is their brand.
Apple Emerges as Nintendo's Game Rival
Nov 11, 2009
Satoru Iwata, the president of Nintendo Co., is a self-proclaimed Apple Inc. fan. He carries an iPhone and uses a Mac laptop. So when Mr. Iwata says Nintendo and Apple aren't competitors, he should know what he's talking about. Nintendo, whose gadgets and software dominate the portable-videogame market, faces the greatest risk from the emergence of Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch as gaming platforms. But Mr. Iwata says attempts to create a rivalry between the two companies make him "uncomfortable," because he says it isn't true. He argues the companies appeal to different consumers.
Simply Different: A Brand Advantage
Sep 11, 2009
Simply Better is the title of the marketing book that won the 2005 Berry-AMA Book Prize. Customers rarely buy a product or service because it offers something unique, say authors Patrick Barwise and Sean Meehan. Consumers want products that are simply better in terms of quality, reliability and value. Not true. Too many companies focus on trying to make better products when the real advantage is making different products. The current videogame dogfight between Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo illustrates this point.
How Nintendo Delights Its Customers
Jul 9, 2009
Since the video game console industry began with the Atari 2600, every successive generation has been touted for its better graphics, faster processors, and increasingly complex controls. In 2005, when the latest generation of consoles was first announced, many assumed Sony's Playstation 3, which had the boldest specs, would prevail, following on the monster success of the Playstation 2. As it turns out, Nintendo's Wii has been the runaway success.
Beyond the Banner
Jun 15, 2009
Online media can be a real paradox—an environment that represents such a wealth of creative opportunity, yet has for so long been a slave to the banner ad. But more brands are rewriting the rules of online ads by growing the dimensions of their ideas beyond the traditional banner or video. Of course bigger is not always better—a bad idea is a bad idea in any size. But with a great idea, breaking the boundaries of traditional online formats can really bring to life what this medium does best.
With More Than Games, DSi Widens Playing Field
Apr 5, 2009
Nintendo’s newest toy, the DSi, fits in your pocket and demonstrates in a simultaneously profound and giggle-inducing way that its makers may have a deeper understanding of how entertainment is evolving in the 21st century than any other company.
Apple Takes on Sony and Nintendo with iPhone 3.0 Gaming
Mar 18, 2009
Apple's iPhone 3.0 event today made it abundantly clear that the iPhone is evolving into a gaming machine. Here's why:
Mario's World Is Brought To Life With Fully Working Mystery Boxes
Dec 16, 2008
Artist Antoinette J. Citizen has put together a room making me wish I could be a kid all over again. Called "Landscape," it's a pretty faithful recreation of what a level from Nintendo's iconic Mario series of video games would look like if brought to life, complete with question-marked boxes that ba-bing! when you bump them.
